The Washington Post's Hatchet Job on Paul Ryan

Today’s Washington Post contains an election-season hatchet job on Paul Ryan by reporter Lori Montgomery, “Amid debt crisis, Paul Ryan sat on the sidelines.” I would expect a story like this on the Newsweek or Huffington Postsites, but the Post purports to be nonpartisan and balanced.
Ms. Montgomery’s story offers two premises:
1. Mr. Ryan “sat on the sidelines” rather than act, and in doing so he failed to behave as a responsible legislator;
2. He would rather espouse conservative principles than engage in the messy business of bipartisan compromise.
Here is Ms. Montgomery’s core assertion:

But knowledge is not action. Over the past two years, as others labored to bring Democrats and Republicans together to tackle the nation’s $16 trillion debt, Ryan sat on the sidelines, glumly predicting their efforts were doomed to fail because they strayed too far from his own low-tax, small-government vision.

Here is her evidence:
-Ryan voted against the Bowles-Simpson recommendations;
-Through much of 2011, he insisted publicly that a “grand bargain” on the budget was impossible; and
-He “asked Boehner not to name him to the congressional ‘supercommittee’ that took a final stab at bipartisan compromise last fall.”
-He voted against a measure to dial back unemployment benefits and extend a temporary payroll tax holiday.

Read more: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/10/01/the_washington_posts_hatchet_job_on_paul_ryan_115626.html